Participants in the meeting of BRICS leaders: Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma, President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Photo by the press service of the President of Russia (03/27/2013)As expected, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) met for the first time in Africa. This fifth BRICS summit in South Africa took place on 26–27 March 2013 in Durban.

This meeting marked the end of the first cycle of BRICS summits. The Leaders' Forum confirmed the solidarity of the participating countries, brought BRICS and Africa closer and confirmed the prospects for cooperation. The summit also showed what a real role these countries will play on the international stage in the near future.

The summit concluded with the release of the Ethekwini Declaration and the Ethekwini Plan of Action. With the Ethekwin Declaration, the BRICS leaders assessed the current situation in the political and economic life of our planet. They announced common approaches to modern issues of cooperation in various fields.

As for the Ethekween Action Plan, it outlines the specific work of the BRICS countries in the early stages of the incipient summit cycle. The plan also reflects the prospects for multilateral cooperation.

It should be recalled that Africa occupied special attention of the meeting participants - the fifth BRICS summit in South Africa was held under the general theme, which was called “BRICS and Africa: partnership for development, integration and industrialization.”